I did it! I ran the half marathon!

OK, it was a run/walk combo but I really don't care, it was 13.1 miles of pure torture.The day started with my alarm clock going off at 3am. Yes, 3 in the morning. Amy and I had to be on the resort buses to the race start before 4am to guarantee that we would be allowed to start. I don't think I have ever gotten up at 3am for anything before.

Once you arrive at the starting location, you start to realize how many people are running with you. At one point, the announcers said that 19,000 people were present at the race. This isn't a small race, no matter how you slice it. Amy & I were in Corral E (which was not the slowest). Once we got to the coral, we waited...and waited...and waited...and waited. By 6:30am, yes a full 3 hours and 3o minutes after getting up, we were off and running!

The first few miles seemed to go by fairly quickly. After the first mile, it was time for our first pit stop. In line for the relief, another Ariel said that I looked just like Gennifer Goodwin - which was kinda awesome. (I actually copied her hair cut.) By mile 5, my right foot started cramping. But, we were close to the castle. So close to the castle. With a quick stretch, we were back at to running.

While training, I would visualize running through the castle. It would keep me going & motivate me. In all actuality, I never pictured running through it with 19 thousand of my closest friends... It was a little cramped.

By mile 9, I just wanted the race to be over. I was starting to feel the pain & my foot was getting worse. But, we kept going. There was absolutely no way Amy was going to let me stop - which was a good thing. Around mile 9, we knew we were slowing down. We got a little too close to the pace balloons - behind them at one point. We heard from a team in training coach that if we make it to mile 10, we wouldn't be picked up by the bus. I've never wanted to die more after than run. We made it to mile 10 and I almost started to cry. After we passed that mile marker, I knew I was going to finish - bum foot and all.

Miles 11 and 12 took us back to Epcot and closer to the finish line. I thought we were going to finish the race going around the world showcase but we ran to a parking lot. Yes, we finished the 13.1 miles in a parking lot. By this point, the parks were open and there were a lot of bystanders. I understand why the race had to end in a parking lot - they wanted us to buy passes to get into the parks for the day - but it was kinda disappointing.

Being in true "Steff style", I tired to capture every moment. Between the tweets, videos and pictures, I think Amy got a little tired of my connectivity. But, this was the day I was looking forward. This was the day I checked one more item off of my bucket list. I know that if one day my Chiari puts me in a wheelchair that I ran 13.1 miles. Whatever happens, my brain can't take that away from me. I did it.

The video is extremely shaky. Hey, I was running across a finish line 13.1 miles from where I started, cut me some slack.